Larissa Jensen

🌍 D2C eCommerce Community: Responsibility Lessons from Pattern Beauty 🌍 According to McKinsey & Company, while Black consumers represent 11.1% of the U.S. beauty market, there's a significant gap in representation within the leadership and ownership of beauty brands. Companies that embrace community responsibility help fill that gap by empowering underrepresented voices and supporting diverse initiatives. Tracee Ellis Ross launched Pattern Beauty in 2019 to offer a product line to nourish all kinds of textured hair, from curly to coily to tight-textured. The PATTERN Beauty community is setting the standard for how brands can make a real-world impact, and this should be a core strategy for every D2C business. Through their initiative, 1% of every purchase goes to a nonprofit customers choose. The funds benefit essential causes: ✅ Funds non-partisan voter education for 4,600 voters of color 🛫 Provides a stipend for 2 Black women to attend a 1-month business incubator ⚕ Enables breast cancer screenings for 85 Black women 🌱 Supports a 1-week environmentalism workshop for 100 low-income Californians This is more than just giving back. It’s about building trust and lasting customer relationships by aligning with important causes. 🤝 It's also notable that Ross also serves as the diversity and inclusion adviser to retailer Ulta Beauty. https://lnkd.in/ehv9MA5n 💡 Why this matters for eCommerce: - 77% of consumers are motivated to purchase from companies committed to improving the world. - Community-focused initiatives improve brand loyalty and customer lifetime value. - It strengthens brand reputation, especially with younger, socially-conscious shoppers. It’s time for D2C brands to integrate community responsibility into their strategy—doing good can, and should be, woven into the business fabric. #ecommerce #D2C #communityimpact #socialresponsibility #BlackOwnedBusiness #BrandLoyalty #Diversity #RepresentationMatters #Empowerment #McKinseyInsights Angela Melero Tiffany Burns Kristi Weaver Ammanuel Zegeye #shopify #DEI WBENC BEACH HOUSE GROUP Kimber Bowman Tiffani D. Carter Christiane Pendarvis

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Ulta Beauty has some big plans for Holiday 2024... 🎄 What is the #1 retail beauty destination prioritizing through Q4? 🤔 🧴 Categories on the Rise - Ulta has invested in in-demand categories such as body care and wellness to ensure it remains the go-to destination for trending products. It's also positioned itself as a leader in the Gen Alpha skincare craze. 🤩 Bringing Joy to Stores - With cultural sentiment seeming to always be negative, Ulta has an initiative to bring more joy to stores, and the gifting season presents the perfect opportunity to communicate this to customers. 👂 Listening to Customers - With 44 million loyalty members, Ulta has an incredible opportunity to learn about trends and get feedback on initiatives. This enhances a sense of community and ensures that retailer continues to deliver what customers truly want. My bet is that Ulta Beauty will continue its beauty dominance through the holiday season and grow as a major retail beauty destination through 2025. #ultabeauty #beautyretail #giftingretail #beautygifts New Ground

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Ulta Beauty is making big moves by partnering with Rokt to expand its retail media network to include non-beauty advertisers, tapping into new revenue streams and widening its appeal beyond the beauty industry. Rokt's AI-powered platform transforms advertising into a personalized discovery experience for Ulta shoppers, seamlessly connecting them with relevant products and offers that feel like curated recommendations. This evolution allows brands in categories like wellness and personal care to connect with Ulta’s highly engaged customer base. As the retail media landscape continues to grow, Ulta's innovative approach highlights how retailers can create meaningful, data-driven ad opportunities for brands across industries. This is a strong example of how forward-thinking companies are unlocking new possibilities. Check out the full coverage in Glossy here: https://lnkd.in/e7kmRVSW #RetailMedia #Ulta #Rokt #Innovation

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Returns can significantly impact a brand’s financial health. Beyond the immediate revenue hit, returns bring added costs, including logistics, warehousing, restocking, and even refurbishing. For emerging brands with limited resources, these expenses can quickly pile up, creating substantial challenges. Being strategic about returns not only protects the bottom line but also fosters stronger, more profitable relationships with your retailers. Here are a few tips to help you proactively manage the financial risks of returns: ✅ Provide clear, detailed product information—online and on packaging. This helps set accurate customer expectations, reducing returns caused by misunderstandings. ✅ Monitor return rates and analyze trends. Dive deep into return reasons to uncover and address root issues proactively. ✅Collaborate closely with retailers to ensure your brand's capabilities align seamlessly with their terms and policies. Are returns impacting your business? DM to talk about how I can help improve your business performance!

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Here at Ulta Beauty, we believe that beauty is a force for good, for all. So in a world where beauty standards are always changing, our brand new Ulta Beauty study revealed and confimred that every generation shares a deep emotional connection to beauty starting as early as Gen Alpha that is deeply rooted in self care and joy! Introducing our “Generation Joy: Defined by Beauty Enthusiasts of All Ages, United by Joy” report, uncovering a new generation of beauty enthusiasts who are bonded by beauty and united by JOY. We dug deep to discover how consumers across generations, including #GenAlpha, perceive, experience, and are influenced by beauty – and how joy is at the heart of beauty rituals, no matter your age. Among the topline “Generation Joy” insights: ✨Universal Joy from Beauty Routines: All generations look to self-care to increase joy in their lives - with 77% agreeing that maintaining a beauty or wellness routine helps them feel more joyful on a day-to-day basis. ✨Early Beauty Experimentation: Gen Alpha females and males are starting to experiment with beauty products at an average age of 8, five years earlier than Gen Z females. ✨Holistic Beauty Definition: 91% of Gen Alpha believes beauty is about looking and feeling good beyond physical appearance, with a focus on holistic self-care. ✨Parental Guidance: 77% of Ulta Beauty Rewards members who are parents to Gen Alpha actively encourage their child’s interest in beauty, with 70% using beauty routines as a bonding activity. And over two-thirds of these Gen Alpha parents agree that it is healthy and “normal” for their child to want to explore beauty at their age. ✨Natural Preferences: 92% of Gen Alpha prefers a more natural look, 87% prioritize skincare over makeup, and 97% believe skincare is self-care, reflecting their beauty goals – cleanliness, hydration, and enhancing natural beauty. Check out the report to explore how joy and beauty unite us! 👇🏻 https://lnkd.in/gSFpqYXu #UltaBeauty #TheJoyProject #JoyForward

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Beauty’s mass market might be in a state of flux, but Target Corp. is only heading upward. Per the company’s last earnings call, beauty helped drive a 2.7 percent growth in the second quarter, alongside fashion, with net sales totaling $25.5 billion and beating Wall Street expectations. Within that, beauty rose 9 percent on a comparable basis, on top of double-digit growth a year ago. The secret sauce is the right brand mix, a bevvy of price points, an integrated digital strategy and a willingness to jump on trends early, said Rick Gomez, Target’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer, in a wide-ranging interview with WWD. Read more here : https://lnkd.in/eDmDPFTD

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Ulta Beauty is taking its retail media network to the next level. Since its retail media network, UB Media, launched in May 2022, it has secured 300 brand partners and experienced a 35% annual increase in brand investment. Now, the beauty giant is partnering with e-commerce tech company Rokt to introduce AI non-endemic ads, allowing companies like Hulu and PayPal to present relevant offers to Ulta’s 44 million loyalty members while they are browsing. Non-endemic ads are not directly related to the products or services of the host platform, allowing advertisers to reach audiences outside their usual categories. Rokt’s AI-driven system aims to ensure that ads feel less like traditional advertising and more like curated, rewarding experiences for Ulta shoppers, said Laura Cosgrove, vp of retail partnerships at Rokt.

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Ulta Beauty is taking its retail media network to the next level. Since its retail media network, UB Media, launched in May 2022, it has secured 300 brand partners and experienced a 35% annual increase in brand investment. Now, the beauty giant is partnering with e-commerce tech company Rokt to introduce AI non-endemic ads, allowing companies like Hulu and PayPal to present relevant offers to Ulta’s 44 million loyalty members while they are browsing. Non-endemic ads are not directly related to the products or services of the host platform, allowing advertisers to reach audiences outside their usual categories. Rokt’s AI-driven system aims to ensure that ads feel less like traditional advertising and more like curated, rewarding experiences for Ulta shoppers, said Laura Cosgrove, vp of retail partnerships at Rokt. #UltaBeauty #Rockt

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Who remembers when brands took years to develop products?? 🙋🏼‍♀️🙋🏼‍♀️ Who remembers when brands had only two “A” launches a year? 🙋🏼‍♀️🙋🏼‍♀️ Who thinks brands need to stop letting Ulta, Sephora, and pressure to capitalize on ViRaLtY dictate when and what a brand launches? 🙋🏼‍♀️🙋🏼‍♀️ I wrote a really long post about the Youthforia controversy but LinkedIn lost it so I’ll just say this... We, as consumers, are exhausted. 😩😩😩 We can’t keep up with brands that now have 8+ launches a year. We don’t need 20 different brands to launch the same type of product at the same time…every other month! (And in this economy?!) And we know YOU’RE exhausted. These increased launches means your teams are overworked and we can see how burnt out they’re getting. Brands are giving passes to mediocre product performance and incomplete shade ranges in favor of launching a product that’s on trend. Youthforia choosing Ulta’s deadline over their customers is the perfect example of brands getting sloppy. I can’t believe anyone would okay that shade range in a world where Fenty set the standard for non-professional lines. And that jet black foundation they thought was going to remedy the situation?? HELLO?? ARE BRANDS EVEN LISTENING?? While Youthforia may stay in Ulta, both Credo Beauty and REVOLVE have announced they are pulling the line. Brands, we need a break. You need a break. Can we go back to when you poured years of love into a single launch? Can you make us remember why we loved your hero products? Can you go back to prioritizing customers?

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It's encouraging to see Gap Inc. turning the corner and inspiring to witness how its new leader, Richard Dickson, is transforming the company's iconic four brands -- Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athleta -- that had fallen on hard times over the past several years. #transformation #retailleadership #leadership #fashionretail #brandmanagement #turnaround #brandstrategy

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Today's retail trends reveal more than just what's popular – they show how consumers fit into or stand out from society. Kayla Marci, Senior Retail Analyst at EDITED, spoke with Glossy about how emerging trends, especially among Gen Z, are reshaping consumer behavior. She highlighted how retailers are adapting their assortments in response to the unique ways younger shoppers are exploring personal style. Explore more insights with Kayla's Gen Z vs. Millennial article, featuring EDITED data: https://hubs.la/Q02-LtwJ0 Read the full Glossy article: https://utm.guru/uhNur

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Podcasts offer something special—intimacy, trust, and authenticity. Hosts become trusted friends, making their recommendations resonate, especially with US Hispanic audiences who spend 37% more on beauty annually than others. “In podcasting, what you have in this era where people are so bombarded by information, bombarded by data, bombarded by messages from brands [is] the idea that someone is helping drive and unfold a story in an organic way,” says Sonoro’s CEO, Joshua Weinstein. “I think consumers want that, young and old.” At Sonoro, brands like Estée Lauder and Cover Girl have tapped into this power to connect deeply through storytelling. Discover how podcasting is transforming beauty advertising, and why it’s the medium of choice for forward-thinking marketers.

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